Drydock



Jan. 15, 1963 R. PEARLSON 3,073,125

DRYDOCK Filed Dec. 3, 1958 e Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEYS Jan. 15, 1963 R.PEARLSON 3,

DRYDOCK Filed Dec. 3, 1958 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 3 INVENTOR lqmM/wismATTORNEYS Jan. 15, 1963 R. PEARLSON 3,073,125

DRYDOCK Filed Dec. 3, 1958 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 ATTORNEY 9 Jan. 15, 1963 R.PEARLSON 3,073,125

' DRYDOCK Filed Dec. 3, 1958 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 glii l llii INVENTORATTORNEYS Jan. 15, 1963 R. PEARLSON 3,073,125

' DRYDOCK Filed Dec. 3, 1958 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR ATTGR-NEYS R.PEARLSON Jan. 15, 1963 DRYDOCK 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed D80. 3, 1958INVENTOR ATTORNEYS III. II

@M/Mw .III A United States Patent by mesne as- Inc,

This invention relates to structures for handling boats and ships tolift them from the water for painting or repair of the hulls, and formajor repair work, and in particular to those structures known asdrydocks.

In the handling of boats and ships during lifting, it is necessary thatthey be supported along the keel either continuously from bow to sternor at relatively closely spaced points, and that additional side chocksbe provided for the proper support. if this is not done then the shipmay be fractured or tilt in the drydock when it is being lifted.Considerable difificulty has been encountered in the past in achievingthis, due to the fact that the keel profiles of difierent ships aredifferent and at different angles to the horizontal when the ship isafloat. Dry dock operators are usually supplied with pertinentinformation as to the hull contour of the ship to be drydocked prior tothe arrival of the ship so that precautions may be made to receive andhandlethe ship. As mentioned above, however, many problems have arisenwith existing equipment in preparing the drydock for the particular shipto be handled.

The general object of the present invention is to provide a drydockwhich will be capable of quickly and efiiciently handling a ship whichis to be lifted, and accomplishing this with a minimum of labor.

A more specific object is to provide a drydock which will have a vesselsupporting floor capable of tilting to adjust to a particular keel angleand then liftingwhile maintaining the desired angle of tilt.

Another object is the provision of checking means which may be adjustedmechanically regardless of the angle of the drydock floor or thevertical position of the floor in the dock.

A further object of the invention is to provide a drydock having a floorof a plurality of sections which are independently movable to adjust tokeel contour with the whole floor being movable as a unit afteradjustment.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the followingdescription of practical embodiments thereof, when taken in conjunctionwith the drawings which accompany, and form part of, this specification.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a drydock' constructed in accordancewith the principles of the present invention, a ship being shown thereinraised from the water;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the structure shown in FIGURE 1, partsbeing brokenaway at the center to shorten the view;

FIGURE 3 is a partial longitudinal view through the floor of the dockillustrating the manner in which the several sections of the fiuOl areinterconnected, and is taken on the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is also a longitudinal section taken through one beam of thefloor and its adjacent sections, and illustrating the hoisting means forthe beam and the operating means for the bilge blocks, and is taken onthe line 44 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a transverse section through the structure shown in FIGURE4, taken on the line 55 of FlGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a horizontal section taken substantially on the plane ofline 6-6 of FIGURE 5, showing both ends of a floor beam and themechanism for moving the bilge blocks;

FIGURE 7 is a top plan View of another arrangement.

FIGURE 10 is an enlarged detail view illustrating the.

connection between one flooring section and an adjacent supporting beam.

in general, the invention is concerned with drydoclcs, having movablefloors which can be adjusted as to contour or inclination and, whenadjusted, raised and lowered in adjusted position. This isaccomplishedby the use of synchronous motors which are independentlyoperable for adjusting the fioor, and simultaneously operable forraising and lowering the adjusted floor. In addition, mechanical meansare provided for the movement of bilge blocks toward and from the dockcenter, which means is, operable irrespective of the height oradjustment of the dock floor or platform.

Referring to the drawings in detail, and first adverting to the form ofthe invention shown in FIGURES l to 6 inclusive, there is illustrated aCllYdOClZ including the side walls 1 and 2 that define a slip 3 intowhich a ship is floated for handling. Between the side walls there is avertically movable fioor, or platform, 4.

The side walls may be constructed in any desired'manner, and are shownas including a series of spaced piers 5 supporting at their tops acatwalk 6. The catwalk is of appropriate width, and may be supplied withguard rails 7. A platform, or dock, 8 is located at the outside of thewalls below the catwalk, but at a suitable height above the water level.Piers 5 are spaced apart suitable distances to define a series ofalcoves 9 which house parts of the floor elevating mechanism, as will bedescribed.

The floor, or platform, 4 is composed of a plurality of parallel,transversely extending, keel supporting beams 1'9, and a plurality ofintermediate floor sections 11, one between each pair of beams. Thebeams and floor'sections are interconnected, as will be desired, to forma longitudinally flexible, articulated floor.

The beams are spaced apart a distance equal to the distance betweencenters of the alcoves 9, and are supported at their ends by hoistingmechanism 12 carried by the dock side walls and operable in the alcoves.Beams 10 are the load-bearing-mernbers of the floor, and theircenter-to-center spacing iscalculated in accordance with the load to becarried and the stresses to be imposed upon the keels and hulls ofvessels when being lifted,

Each beam 19 is a relatively heavy l-beam, of a length to substantiallyspan the distance between the side walls of the dock; On the undersidesof the beams adjacent to the ends, short sections of auxiliary beams 13are connected so as to project beyond the ends of the main beams 10. Thebeam sections 13 carry brackets 14, each of which journals a multiplegroove pulley 15. A cable 16 is trained about this pulley and anotherpulley l7 supported by brackets 18 on channel beams 19 seated on thetops of the piers 5. Channel beams 19, in turn, support the catwalk 6.The cable 16 has one end anchored to a channel 19, as at 20, and theother end wound on a drum 21, mounted on the platform, or dock, 8. Eachcable drum is driven by its own synchronous motor 22.

The motors 22 at any one beam position can be operated independently ofthe other motors of the system to wind or unwind the cables 16 on thedrums 21 to raise or lower the beam. By reason of this arrangement, theseveral beams of the floor can be raised to dillerent heights so thatthe beams will lie along any predetermined keel contour or angle, to theend that each beam of the floor will contact a ships keel simultaneouslywhen all of the beams are raised together by simultaneous operation ofall of the synchronous motors.

The beams are tied together to form a floor by means of the intermediatefloor sections 11. These comprise pairs of transversely spaced,longitudinally extending beams 23 held in spaced relation by bridgemembers 24. Any suitable flooring 25 may be used. The floor sections aresecured to the beams 10 so as to permit the beams to have relativevertical movement, yet tie them together to prevent swaying of thebeams. I-beams it} are provided with ears 26 and pins 27 pass throughthe cars 26 and the longitudinal stringers 23 of the floor sections. Torelieve the pins 27 of the load of the floor sections, the I-beams areprovided with shelves 28 upon which the ends of the beams 23 rest. Theends 23' of the stringers 23 terminate short of the vertical webs ofI-beams it and slots, such as slots 26 in cars 26, are provided toreceive pins 27 and allow some tilting movement of the platform sectionsrelative to the I-beam. This arrangement will permit adjacent I-beamsthe limited independent movement which will be necessary in use withoutthe weight of the intermediate fioor sections being removed from theshelves 2%.

Each of the beams 10 carries a pair of bilge blocks 29 upon its uppersurface, with the blocks of the pair being on opposite sides of thecenter of the beam. It is desirable that these blocks be movable towardand from the center of the beam, and to this end the blocks are connected to sprocket chains 30. Each chain has its ends attached toopposite ends of a bilge block and passes around an operating sprocket31, rotatably mounted adjacent one end of beam 10, and an idler sprocket32 mounted near the center of the beam (see FIGURE 6). It will beobvious that upon rotation of sprocket 31 the block will be caused tomove alon the top of the beam 10. In order that sprocket 31 may beoperated at all elevational positions of beam 10, the sprocket isprovided with a square central opening 33 to slidably receive a squareoperating shaft 34. The upper portion of shaft 34 is rounded andsuitably journalled upon a standard 35, fixed to the catwalk 6. Shaft 34carries a bevel gear 36 at its upper end which meshes with a bevel gear37 connected to a hand wheel 38 also mounted upon standard 35. Rotationof the hand wheel in opposite directions will cause similar rotation ofshaft 34 and thus movement of the bilge block toward or from the centerof beam 10. This will be true irrespective of vertical adjustment of thebeam, as the sprocket 31 will slide along shaft 34 as the beam is moved.

It will be seen from the above description that independent operation ofthe motors controlling each beam permits the beams to be moved so thatthey will assume positions conforming to any ship keel contour orinclination, and that simultaneous operation of all of the synchronousmotors will cause the entire floor or platform to move while maintainingits previously adjusted contour. The bilge blocks can be moved todesired positions no matter what the elevation of the beams may be. Thispermits the operator to preset the floor to the plan of the keel andhull of an incoming ship, so that when the ship is floated into the slipthe floor may be moved upwardly to make precise contact with the shipalong the full length of the keel to raise the ship without changing theangular position it had when afloat, and without placing undue strain onany part of the hull.

Referring now to FIGURES 7 to 9, inclusive, a slightly difierent form ofdrydock is shown which is suitable for smaller ships and small boats.Here, a single wall 39 is provided, having a catwalk th and supportingframework 41 to carry motor and cable drum units 42 mounted near theends of the wall. Suitable skeleton framework 43 is erected spaced fromthe wall ends to mount additional motor and cable drum units 44.intermediate the wall and the framework 43, there is a floor, orplatform, 45.

In this form of the invention, the floor is a unitary, rigid platform.It consists of transverse, load supporting, end beams 36 and spacedlongitudinal beams 47, bridging the distance between the beams 46. Aperimctric frame 48 may be used about the floor and suitable flooring 49will surface the platform. Any number of additional flooring beams 56)will be used as required.

' trolled by individual switches 56 and 57 on a convenient panel 58 inthe catwalk so that either end of the fioor may be raised independentlyto adjust for angle. A master switch 59 will operate all of thesynchronous motors simultaneously so that the floor will raise or lowerat the angle at which it has been set.

The floor in the illustration is provided with rails oil to accommodatea boat supporting dolly, but it is evident that the same bilge blockarrangement described in connection with the first form of the inventionmay be used with the rigid floor also.

While in the above two practical embodiments of the invention have beendisclosed, it will be understood that the precise details of structuredescribed and shown are merely by way of illustration, and the inventionmay take other forms within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A drydock comprising, supporting structure in spaced sectionsdefining a slip into which a vessel may be floated, an articulatedplatform within the slip, the platform including a plurality ofload-supporting beams having horizontal ledges in parallel spacedrelation transversely spanning the slip, and a plurality of flooringsections one between each two adjacent beams, and having its sidespivotally connected to the adjacent beams, each flooring sec tionincluding a frame and an overlying floor with the pivotalinterconnection between the flooring sections and the load-supportingbeams being to the frame and the frame having portions resting upon thehorizontal ledges of the load-supporting beams, individual cablesconnected to the ends of the load-supporting beams and to the supportingbeams may be operated as a pair to raise and lower individualload-supporting beams to cause the platform to conform to a determinedpattern and all of the motors may be operated simultaneously to raiseand lower the platform while maintaining the determined pattern.

2. A drydock as claimed in claim 1, wherein bilge blocks are slidablypositioned on some of the load-supporting beams, and there are means tomove the bilge blocks longitudinally of the load-supporting beamsoperative regardless of the vertical position of the platform or theindividual supporting beams.

Ely Jan. 28, 1829 268,177 Bowe Nov. 28, 1882 6 Flynn Dec. 15, 1891Kinipple Aug. 23, 1892 Rolli July 4, 1916 Crandall Ian. 2, 1917 HillMar. 25, 1924 Caroni Aug. 30, 1927 King June 22, 1948 Wichert Sept. 21,1954 Robbins Aug. 26, 1958

1. A DRYDOCK COMPRISING, SUPPORTING STRUCTURE IN SPACED SECTIONSDEFINING A SLIP INTO WHICH A VESSEL MAY BE FLOATED, AN ARTICULATEDPLATFORM WITHIN THE SLIP, THE PLATFORM INCLUDING A PLURALITY OFLOAD-SUPPORTING BEAMS HAVING HORIZONTAL LEDGES IN PARALLEL SPACEDRELATION TRANSVERSELY SPANNING THE SLIP, AND A PLURALITY OF FLOORINGSECTIONS ONE BETWEEN EACH TWO ADJACENT BEAMS, AND HAVING ITS SIDESPIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO THE ADJACENT BEAMS, EACH FLOORING SECTIONINCLUDING A FRAME AND AN OVERLYING FLOOR WITH THE PIVOTALINTERCONNECTION BETWEEN THE FLOORING SECTIONS AND THE LOAD-SUPPORTINGBEAMS BEING TO THE FRAME AND THE FRAME HAVING PORTIONS RESTING UPON THEHORIZONTAL LEDGES OF THE LOAD-SUPPORTING BEAMS, INDIVIDUAL CABLESCONNECTED TO THE ENDS OF THE LOAD-SUPPORTING BEAMS AND TO THE